What would be the point of comparing DigestEngine instances (instead of DigestEngine::Digest values)?

Regarding SHA2, it would be best to implement this in Poco::Crypto, probably in a generic way, using the generic OpenSSL digest functions (EVP_Digest...). Interestingly, I thought this had already been done, but it was wishful thinking on my part...

I don't think comparison functions belong in the DigestEngine class. Conceptually it just makes no sense, at DigestEngine instances are not value objects, but rather objects creating values (digests), which can then be compared easily.

guenter wrote:I don't think comparison functions belong in the DigestEngine class. Conceptually it just makes no sense, at DigestEngine instances are not value objects, but rather objects creating values (digests), which can then be compared easily.

Right, which is why I amended my statement as:

"Err, sorry, yes... comparing Digests, not DigestEngines..."

so it should be possible to compare a Digest and the serialized representation of a Digest (i.e. digest.toString()).